WI: 1993 Russian Crisis

[Israel]

What if the Army didn't side with Yeltsin, if not siding with Rutskoy then at least maintained it's neutrality and allowed the protesters to gain ground?

 

[Jonathan]

What if the Army didn't side with Yeltsin, if not siding with Rutskoy then at least maintained it's neutrality and allowed the protesters to gain ground?

Being neutral is nearly as bad as siding with Rutskoy.

By not stopping the protest and answering Yeltsin's call for State of Emergency, General Pavel Grachev, would have been defying President Yeltsin and causing an act of treason.

With Boris Yeltsin, ousted as President and Alexander Rutskoy declaring himself, President of the Russian Federation.

One after affect which would be interesting to investigate is how does US President, Bill Clinton deal with this? Having ousted George H.W. Bush nearly a year ago, he had campaigned solely on internal issues, believing international peace had be resolved with the dissolution of the Soviet Union?
How does this set him up for the 1996 presidential election? Could we see him going up against either:
- Former U.S. Army General, Colin Powell
- Former Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney
- Former Secretary of State, Alexander Haig
- Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld
- Former Secretary of State, James Baker